Ogma

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The term refers to a legendary figure credited with inventing writing in Celtic mythology ; it may denote an ancient alphabet or script associated with druids and symbolic meanings ; it can also imply a concept or principle related to knowledge transmission in early cultures
2. This word denotes a mythological inventor of letters in ancient Celtic traditions ; it can identify a symbolic alphabet used by early religious practitioners ; it might represent any foundational element connected to literacy in historic contexts
3. It names a mythical originator of written language within Celtic folklore ; it signifies a set of characters or runes linked to spiritual or mystical practices ; it also encompasses ideas linked to early inscription and communication systems

Etymology: Ogma, or Ogmios, is a god of eloquence and writing in Irish and Gaulish tradition. In Irish mythology he is the champion of the Tuatha Dé Danann and is credited with inventing the Ogham script. The Gaulish name appears in the second-century Greek writer Lucian, who describes a Celtic god of eloquence portrayed as an old man whose tongue is tied to his listeners' ears by slender chains of gold and amber. The name is connected to the Ogham alphabet, a system of twenty signs made of strokes cut along a vertical or diagonal stem line, mostly carved on stone in Ireland and Britain. Early medieval Irish sources and their scribes linked the script to Ogma, and the tradition that he invented it is a later literary claim rather than a record of how the script arose.